The Picture
by LexSleuther
Summary: 'It had been six months, six freaking months, since he'd left her and yet she had been more than half of the things clouding his mind since that time.' My thoughts on what Gray was thinking after the timeskip. Dedicated to fatedsong on Tumblr.{Chapter 424 spoilers}


"All is to be done for Zeref."

After that, the whole company of avatars fell into a cold silence. Everyone lost in thought about the Dark Lord and what had to be done, including eliminating anyone who got in the way of their plans. Those who didn't follow Zeref weren't worthy to keep on living. That was supposedly the mutual thought for all around the room.

All, that is, but one.

It had been six months, _Six freaking months, _since he'd left her and yet she had been more than half of the things clouding his mind since that time, it was distracting him from his mission and frankly it was irritating.

But still…

Glancing around the room quickly to make sure no one was looking, Gray dove a hand into his coat pocket and brought out the folded picture. He unfurled the crumpled piece and felt something clench in his chest when his eyes fell on the image. It was a picture of Juvia smiling up at the camera, her blue waves cascaded over her shoulders and a pink hue blossomed on her cheeks as she grinned.

Every time he brought out the picture, the same thoughts and worries would flood through his head. Was she okay? How would she feel when she woke up and found out he was gone? Should he have said something before he left? Was she thinking about him too?

The last question was a no-brainer. It was Juvia, _of course_ she was thinking of him.

But the guilt of leaving without a goodbye still ate at him continuously. It wasn't as if he wanted to leave her, he had every intention of going back. He had come to the conclusion, during their months together, that he wanted to be with her once E.N.D was gone. He would tell her exactly how much she meant to her next time he saw her.

But six months had passed and he was getting nowhere with his mission. Gray had no idea what was happening to him, but he found himself waking up in the morning without opening his eyes, secretly hoping he was still back in their cabin, secretly listening out for her soft voice singing a sweet tune like she would every morning. They were happy, just living and training together, and he had simply gotten up in the middle of the night and left with no words. He had stopped in the doorway for a minute and looked back, catching one last glimpse of her sleeping peacefully, and somehow his legs had a mind of their own, bringing him to her side. Before he knew it, he was planting a soft kiss on her cheek and smirking when he pulled away to see a smile adorning her lips.

And then the next morning, he was gone.

He couldn't tell her.

He had to protect her.

And now all he had was his memories and the picture to remember her by. But slowly enough, her image was slipping out of his mind, the sound of her voice was becoming less and less clear in his head, and unless he looked at the picture, her form was beginning to blur too. He grasped at the slipping strands of her memory but the darkness was consuming him more and more everyday, slowly corrupting his mind.

And so he only had the photograph now.

It was eventually going to get worse. He was afraid that he would one day bring out the piece of paper and stare blankly at it, wondering why he had a picture of a random woman, and then, he feared, he would throw it away. So he tried his best to memorise everything about her, every single detail, he tried to remember the sound of her laugh, the image of her smile, the weird crazy fluffy feeling he started to get when he was close to her. Everything.

But it was still slipping, and he knew that when they did see each other again, he may not even remember who she is to tell her how much she meant to him.

And that scared him even more than E.N.D.

_**A/N: This is dedicated to fatedsong on Tumblr who made a post about Gray having a picture of Juvia with him and of him kissing her before leaving that kinda stirred some inspiration inside me.**_

_**So after reading the last chapter my heart broke into a million pieces and screamed for a gruvia reunion or some explanation as to what Gray was doing. I refuse to believe he has actually become evil, I think he is trying to get closer to these guys so he can find out about E.N.D. Because otherwise HOW DARE THAT GRAY-FUCKING-SAMA FULLBASTARD LEAVE MY JUVIA ALONE FOR SIX FREAKING MONTHS AND GO JOIN A DARK GUILD I WILL SHOVE AN ICE LANCE UP YOUR ASS YOU BAKA!**_

_**Ahem, sorry about that.**_

_**Anyway, reviews are always appreciated. Leave your reactions to last chapter too I'd love to hear if anyone shares my pain.**_

**_How am I supposed to wait a whole week?_**

**_ ~Alexa_**


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